Clearview begins budget talks at 3.2%

STAYNER — Clearview councillors started off their budget discussions on Monday with a proposed tax increase of more than 3.2 per cent.

That would mean a $91 increase for the average household, according to treasurer Edward Henley, who led the new council through an overview of the 2015 draft budget. Councillors were also provided with the financial estimates for administration, human resources, water, and environmental services.

However, added Henley, any increase “will probably be lower.”

The actual increase in operational spending at the township would be nearly seven per cent, or more than $827,000, but the overall tax increase is arrived at once Simcoe County, the school boards, and the costs of the Ontario Provincial Police are factored into the equation. The only ‘known’ is a reduction in policing costs for 2015.

One of the larger hits to Clearview’s bottom line will be a $183,000 reduction in the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund; Henley said further reductions in the fund, which is intended to offset ‘uploads’ in program funding from the province, are expected for next year.

On the staffing side, the municipality intends to hire a communications specialist.

“There are some opportunities for costs savings, and there are some areas where you might like to spend a little more money,” CAO Stephen Sage told council before Henley began his presentation.

“It’s still a working number,” said Mayor Chris Vanderkruys after the session. “When we hear all the rest [of the departments], then we’ll certainly be having more discussion on where we’ll go from here.

“It’s not that we’ll try to cut the budget to [no increase], because doing that is unrealistic, but if there are places we feel we can shift the dollars to the next year, or future years, that would be something the council would rather do just to maintain costs.

“We’re very young, as a council, and to be thrown right into the budget is a big thing.”

Vanderkruys is also anxious to get feedback from residents on what they would like to see the municipality spend its money on.

“The biggest thing is if they have ideas,” Vanderkruys said. “We need to involve them, but the only way they can be involved is if they participate.”

Two more budget workshops are scheduled for councillors early in the new year, while a public meeting on the budget will be held Feb. 9.